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Pitch and Power on the ILS

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Bernoulli

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 4, 2003
Posts
227
OK... Final approach fix down to the decision altitude... how do you fly the ILS? Do you power for the airspeed you want and pitch and trim for the glideslope or do you set your power to hold glideslope and pitch for your airspeed? I know... this is gonna open up another can of worms. I definitely do it one way but I think either way is probably fine... whatever keeps the needles centered. Just curious. Thanks in advance for all constructive answers.
 
set the known power setting for the approach and small pitch/trim changes to maintain the GS.

but...in the end either way you are doing it, its gonna end up getting you to a certain pitch/power setting that gives you an A/S and a descent rate that you want for the approach.
 
Power for altitude, pitch for airspeed. Find a relative freeze heading and it couldn't be easier. If you pitch for the glideslope, you will be chasing it throughout the approach. At least in my experience.
 
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As stated by an examiner that I did most of my rides with:

"When people say pitch for airspeed, power for altitude, I tell them on takeoff not use any power, just give me some pitch. If your theory is correct, then pitching us down the runway should give us all the airspeed we need for takeoff!"

I got a kick out of that.
 
Foxcow...
Over the years, I've given many instrument competency checks and I've seen pilots try just about every imaginable way to fly the glideslope and track the localizer. (The wildest was a Cessna 310 jock who insisted on tracking the localizer using differential power!)

Your method works well enough with the light aircraft you've been flying, but as you move up the ladder and you fly larger and heavier aircraft your method becomes less and less effective. Try pitching for airspeed in a jet and you're going to give the folks in the back a real ride. Aircraft with flight directors and autopilots fly ILSes with the ailerons & elevators and control the airspeed with the throttle. All in all, it's probably the best way to accomplish the task.

'Sled
 
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BLing said:
As stated by an examiner that I did most of my rides with:

"When people say pitch for airspeed, power for altitude, I tell them on takeoff not use any power, just give me some pitch. If your theory is correct, then pitching us down the runway should give us all the airspeed we need for takeoff!"

I got a kick out of that.

You do pitch for airspeed with with full or idle power, other times, it's vice versa!!!!:beer: There's always gotta be one wise-a$$!!!! All in due repect, I would've said the same if I remembered!!!:laugh:
 
As always, performance is a combination of pitch and power. Which predominates and which control what is a matter of training technique and pilot preference.

On the ILS most pilots will set up a configuration that will closely approximate the performance they want (you =do= have a power chat, don't you?). Large adjustments require a change in both, so there's not much use it picking one over the other in terms of what controls what.

For the small changes to track the glideslope, some pilots make coordinated changes on both pitch and power. Others feel that the have more glideslope control with small changes in yoke pressure and accept the resulting small changes in airspeed. Still others feel more control with a power change while holding pitch relatively constant.

If you;re talking light aircraft, none of them are wrong.
 
Lead Sled said:
Foxcow...
Over the years, I've given many instrument competency checks and I've seen pilots try just about every imaginable way to fly the glideslope and track the localizer. (The wildest was a Cessna 310 jock who insisted on tracking the localizer using differential power!)

Your method works well enough with the light aircraft you've been flying, but as you move up the ladder and you fly larger and heavier aircraft your method becomes less and less effective. Try pitching for airspeed in a jet and you're going to give the folks in the back a real ride. Aircraft with flight directors and autopilots fly ILSes with the ailerons & elevators and control the airspeed with the throttle. All in all, it's probably the best way to accomplish the task.

'Sled


You are absolutely right. I was only refering to the smaller aircraft that I fly :D
 
In theory, if the airplane is trimmed a power change will result in a change in descent angle accompanied by a pitch change without pilot input as the airplane seeks its trimmed AOA.

In practice, pilot A pitches to maintain the descent angle and adjusts power to maintain the speed. Pilot B adjusts power to maintain the descent angle and pitches to maintain speed.

End result: the same in all respects.
 
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